Society's Unhealthy Obsession with Beauty

Every day in magazines, television, movies etc we are bombarded with images of the supposedly perfect body. These air-brushed, photo shopped beauties send most of us, especially females into a frenzy. We as Westerners are told that the perfect image is an incredibly thin person with perfectly straight hair, a perfect face that is caked in make-up with tight clothing.

The sad truth is most of us will not look like this BUT why do we have to abide by what society says is beauty. This is not a healthy obsession, it is one that causes pain. We have all seen young women and girls try so hard to look like this they have developed eating disorders. In Australia anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, self-harm and other forms of psychological illnesses affect young women and it now is becoming more common in young men. We spend money on make-up, weight-loss pills, anything that will make us feel better and more beautiful. We as females try to hide any imperfection that we may have by caking any pimples with make-up (as you can see I have no knowledge of make-up), clothing to hide any stomach we may have, paint our nails to cover discolouring, straightening our hair thinking it will change us etc.

We are still the same on the inside. BUT WHY? We are all perfect as cliché as it sounds we are. Especially YOU, the reader of this article. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. You are perfect in every single way. We all have qualities that make us unique, we were made for a reason. Remember it.

One tip; Every time you stare into the mirror and find one negative, find two positive.

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Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. Today, VOY is a vibrant community of youth bloggers from all over the world, offering inspiring, original insight and opinion on a variety of topics. Everyone is welcome to write, film, comment and engage in discussions. Let’s go!